Our Man in Havana

By: Graham Greene

Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies

MI6's man in Havana is Wormold, a former vacuum-cleaner salesman turned reluctant secret agent out of economic necessity. To keep his job, he files bogus reports based on Charles Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare and dreams up military installations from vacuum-cleaner designs. Then his stories start coming disturbingly true....

First published in 1959 against the backdrop of the Cold War, Our Man in Havana remains one of Graham Greene's most widely enjoyed novels. It is an espionage thriller, a penetrating character study, and a political satire of government intelligence that still resonates today.

©1958 William Heinemann Ltd; Copyright renewed 1986 by Graham Greene (P)2024 Tantor

locations

My parents (American) lived in Cuba during that time period. It was fun to hear all the locations they talked about during their time there.

Narration

Narration was phenomenal, with multiple character voices lending a distinct flare to the wonderful text. Overall it was fantastic!

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1. As much I prefer audiobook reading, this is a book to hold in your hands (if possible.)
a. The narrator, Matthew Lloyd Davies, gives several important characters a strong German accent. if you read the Wikipedia entry for "Our Man in Havana" this will make a little bit of sense, but "Captain Segura" doesn't sound like a German name. I found the accents hard to understand, tedious, and suspect.
b. Matthew Lloyd Davies also imbues every single sentence with a gravity that seems to indicate that the lives of all the characters hinge upon that sentence. By the end of six and half hours, I was exhausted by this and sadly, the drama of the story didn't measure up to tension he tried to create with his reading.

2. Its a very plotty book and that was kind of fun, especially after reading End of the Affair which was the opposite.
3. Mr Wormhold is a very unlikeable name for a protagonist. Perhaps we were not supposed to like him but I don't think so.
4. I found the female characters were better drawn then the males but none measured up to the characters in End of the Affair.
5. They call this book dark comedy. Several reviews here say its funny. The premise is kind of intriguingly amusing, but I don't think its really funny. And I did not find a single line of book to be funny. But it is not overly dark either.

It was okay. Im glad I read it. But I wish I had read a physical copy. Its a short book. Check your library.

what a funny, silly story wrapped up in espionage.

All of it! Great Characterizations; great pacing! Thoroughly enjoyed the story! Can't wait to read(listen) to another Graham Greene - I can see why LeCarre held him on high esteem.

Worth every minute

My opinion, this guy’s writing will catch on. Many memorable similes our claim as my own.